A quick one for a Sunday from respected local historian Bill Mayo – something I didn’t know existed: A photo of Walsall Wood Miner’s Institute which stood at the junction of Coppice Lane and the Brownhills/Lindon Roads, just where the leisure centre is today.
In the background can be seen the twin pitheads of Walsall Wood Colliery, where Brownhills Business Park now is, and the old Colliery Offices which I believe survived until the 1980s when they were, if I recall correctly, destroyed by a fire.
The institute was a social club, not just for miners but the local community as a whole. I’m not sure when it was lost, but probably after the mine closed in 1964.
I’d like to thank Bill for his generosity in sharing this image via the young David Evans who spotted it on display at Brownhills Community Centre last weekend.
I believe from the concrete lamp-post the photo would be from the 1950s or 60s.
If you have any more information or memories of the institute, please do get in touch – you can comment here, mail me on BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com or tug my sleeve on social media.
